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Friday, April 2, 2010

Icon Grill Facade Falls to Pavement, Injuring Pedestrians

Posted by on Fri, Apr 2, 2010 at 9:25 AM

Slog tippers and Twitter tweeters report that the facade of the Icon Grill on 5th Avenue and Virginia Street has fallen off. Here's one photo from Twitter. KIRO has the best photo and reports that two people are hurt:

icon.jpg
  • KIRO

UPDATE: KIRO now reports that three people were hurt. One person suffered serious injuries and two have minor injuries; they're all at Harborview hospital.

 

Comments (27) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment
Max Solomon 1
looks like the cornice. lucky no one got killed.
Posted by Max Solomon on April 2, 2010 at 9:31 AM
Cato the Younger Younger 2
Small price to pay for fucking amazing mac and cheese!!
Posted by Cato the Younger Younger on April 2, 2010 at 9:37 AM
3
Holy Crap. I walk by there every morning. I just happened to take an alternate route today. Woah.
Posted by Varia on April 2, 2010 at 9:45 AM
4
Those terra cotta facades crack as they age and absorb an incredible amount of water. A large building can absorb several tons of water during a heavy rain. This water causes expansion and eventual structural failure. Most buildings from this period are reaching an age and condition which requires extensive maintenance and repair.
Posted by thatsnotright on April 2, 2010 at 9:50 AM
5
@4 I totally wish I knew shit like that off the top of my head. [/jealous]
Posted by Zelbinian on April 2, 2010 at 9:57 AM
6
I like their fried chicken!
Posted by m@tt on April 2, 2010 at 9:57 AM
7
I can't recall what it looked like before; wasn't there just some large red neon above the marque? Where the hell did all those bricks come from? The Pics at KIRO look like the actual building facade is intact - I don't see any chunks missing.

What gives? What gave?
Posted by jnonymous on April 2, 2010 at 10:02 AM
Posted by Joe Szilagyi http://www.joeszilagyi.com on April 2, 2010 at 10:05 AM
Beetlecat 9
Notice all the red stuff right above the Neon -- that's not in the final picture at @8's link.

http://www.vintageseattle.org/wp-content…
Posted by Beetlecat on April 2, 2010 at 10:11 AM
Joe Szilagyi 10
Ah, that'd be the bricks, then. It's funny how you walk by a building 3-4 times per week but never, ever look up to note little details like that.

Scary too how often I walk through that killzone.
Posted by Joe Szilagyi http://www.joeszilagyi.com on April 2, 2010 at 10:14 AM
11
res ipsa loquitur
Posted by Trial Lawyer on April 2, 2010 at 10:17 AM
12
Speaking of which... I've noticed that people have been working in the shops to the left of the Icon Grill. Does anyone know if X-Ray Specs is coming back?
Posted by Chelsea on April 2, 2010 at 10:19 AM
michael strangeways 13
terrible for those people and for Icon and the landlord, 'cause there will some EXPENSIVE lawsuits/settlements.
Posted by michael strangeways http://www.seattlegayscene.com/ on April 2, 2010 at 10:32 AM
Amnt 14
Just wait until the next earthquake...

And by wait I mean prepare yourself, check out the Red Cross and Seattle Emergency Management sites for a lot of useful information.
Posted by Amnt on April 2, 2010 at 10:37 AM
15
Maybe now Icon can pony up to get a real reader board, instead of that stupid paper-printed lettering look they have going on now.*

*Note…this is not meant to make light of the fact the real people were hurt by this unfortunate event.
Posted by Timothy on April 2, 2010 at 10:43 AM
Max Solomon 16
@13: i think it will be the LL on the hook - building maintenance and all. as any belltown LL knows, there's only 1 solution for this problem - strip the terracotta facade and replace it with Drivit so it can't be put on the historic register.
Posted by Max Solomon on April 2, 2010 at 10:49 AM
17
@14 FTW
Posted by matt on April 2, 2010 at 10:56 AM
Andy_Squirrel 18
did this happen around midnight? I swear my girlfriend and I felt a small earthquake last night around then.
Posted by Andy_Squirrel on April 2, 2010 at 11:08 AM
Posted by Andy_Squirrel on April 2, 2010 at 11:10 AM
Matt from Denver 20
@ 19, magnitude 2.5 magnitude earthquakes are barely perceptible, and nowhere near strong enough to do this kind of damage unless the facade was already badly damaged. Even then I wouldn't bet on such a weak quake triggering this.
Posted by Matt from Denver on April 2, 2010 at 11:14 AM
Telsa Grills 21
Mac 'n' cheese is for eating, not cementing masonry.
Posted by Telsa Grills on April 2, 2010 at 11:19 AM
Joe Szilagyi 22
It happened at 915amish.
Posted by Joe Szilagyi http://www.joeszilagyi.com on April 2, 2010 at 11:33 AM
birdy num num 23
i knew i liked that place for something...that mac-n-cheese is overrated (and expensive).

you don't see palace kitchen across the street hurting anybody do you? what?!
Posted by birdy num num on April 2, 2010 at 11:44 AM
Resident Clinton 24
Wow. This picture makes it pretty evident that the facade was crumbling, so it shouldn't be a surprise that if fell. There are plants growing out of it!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co…
Posted by Resident Clinton on April 2, 2010 at 12:46 PM
25
icon grill's chef Nick Musser has a cookbook, Aroused Americana. Aroused the cornice right off its base, looks like.
Posted by Cornichon http://cornichon.org on April 2, 2010 at 1:32 PM
26
“Unfortunately, we will be closed for dinner tonight. We’ve been assured that clean-up and repairs will be completed by tomorrow and we can re-open on Saturday,” said Chef Nick Musser.
Posted by saltairelife on April 2, 2010 at 7:56 PM
27
What about the homeless kids who sleep in the entry ways between the Icon and the rental car company? Were they hurt this morning? WERE THEY??
Incomplete reporting.
Posted by Fifth Avenue denizen on April 2, 2010 at 8:51 PM

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